Page 505 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

489 quite
1
two meanings
Quite has two meanings. Compare:
It's quite good, but it could be better. (= It's OK, not bad.) It's quite impossible. (= It's completely impossible.)
Good is a 'gradable' adjective: things can be more or less good. With gradable words, quite usually means something like 'fairly' or 'rather' (see 199) in affirmative sentences. Impossible is non-gradable: things are either impossible or not; but they cannot be more or less impossible. With non-gradable words, quite means 'completely'. Compare:
- I'm quite tired, but I can walk a bit further.
I'm quite exhausted - I couldn't walk another step.
- It's quite surprising. (similar to fairly surprising) It's quite amazing. (= absolutely amazing)
- He speaks French quite well, but he's got a strong English accent. He speaks French quite perfectly.
- Iquitelikeher,butshe'snotoneofmyclosestfriends.
Have you quite finished? (= Have you completely finished?)
In American English quite with gradable adjectives often means something like 'very', not 'fairly/rather'.
word order with nouns
Quite can be used with alan + noun. It normally comes before alan if there is a gradable adjective or no adjective.
It's quite a nice day.
We watched quite an interesting film last night.
She's quite a woman! The party was quite a success.
With non-gradable adjectives, quite normally comes after alan in BrE. It was a quite perfect day. (ArnE It was quite a perfect day.)
Quite is sometimes used before the to mean 'exactly', 'completely'. He's going quite the wrong way. quite the opposite
2
3 comparisons
Quite is not used directly before comparatives.
She's rather / much / a bit older than me. (BUT NOT She's quite (jlder . ..)
But we use quite better to mean 'completely recovered' (from an illness). Quite similar means 'fairly/rather similar'; quite different means 'completely different'.
4 quite a bitlfewllot etc
Quite a bit and quite a few (informal) mean almost the same as quite a lot. We're having quite a bit of trouble with the kids just now.
We thought nobody would be there, but actually quite a few people came.
S not quite
Not quite means 'not completely' or 'not exactly'. It can be used before adjectives, adverbs, verbs and noUDS, including noUDS with tlte.
I'm not quite ready - won't be a minute.
She didn't run quite fast enough for a record.
J don't quite agree. That's not quite the colour I wanted.
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